The administration has missed the February 2013 deadline to inaugurate the new building of civil hospital at Barnala Kalan village on the Nawanshahr-Chandigarh road.

This is the third deadline that the administration has missed over two years.Officials have blamed a row over land
acquisition for the delays. Land is required to carve out a 60-feet wide road to connect the hospital with the GT road.

The project had earlier been delayed due to unavailability of sand in the market, as mining had been banned.

Sources said that the foundation stone of the 100-bed facility was laid out by chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on March 28, 2011, along with the then state health minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla. Construction began on December 29, 2010, and it was to be completed within a year on December 28, 2011, at a cost of Rs. 14.36 crore.

Sources in the health department claimed that the administration was in the process of issuing a notification for acquisition of around 7 acres.

The notification will be issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1884, and objections and suggestion will be demanded from public within a month. Another notification will be issued under Section 6 of same Act. After this, it will take four-five months to complete whole process including fixing rates of land, paying compensation to land owners and other necessary works.

Sources added that the notification of new judicial complex which is also coming up near the building of civil hospital was issued last week.

Additional deputy commissioner Amarjeet Pal said: “The administration has sent the file of hospital to higher authorities about land required for acquisition for constructing 60-ft wide road.”

However, he further said that the preliminary notification will be issued soon and it may take three months to complete the process of inaugurating the building.

Assistant civil surgeon HN Sharma also claimed that it may take another six months for the inauguration of the new building of the hospital.